Katherine Scholes

Kate Carrington aún recuerda su infancia en los recintos de la Misión en Langali, cerca de la frontera con Ruanda, donde su padre era médico. Pero también lo que siguió a la noche de Pascua de 1974, cuando el brutal asesinato de sus progenitores puso fin a la época más feliz de su vida. Quince años después, Kate ha roto todos sus vínculos con África y ha renunciado a esclarecer las incógnitas que rodearon aquellas muertes. Sin embargo, ni siquiera en su nuevo hogar en Australia puede evitar que el pasado vuelva a ella.
Annah Mason llegó a Tanganica en 1962 dispuesta a pisar los escenarios que conoció a través de las cartas de su tía, enfermera como ella, aunque lo que imagina es algo muy distinto a lo que le aguarda. Más allá de Langali, encontrará un África repleta de misterio, una tierra de hechiceros y sanadores, de guerreros, ritos arcanos y supersticiones. Una amistad forjada con lazos más fuertes que los de la sangre. Una tribu noble, la de los waganga. Y un amor prohibido que terminará marcando su destino.… (mais)

Set in Tanzania during the 1970’s The Beautiful Mother by Katherine Scholes centre’s around archaeologist Essie, who has lived at the Magadi Research Camp since her marriage to fellow archaeologist Ian Lawrence, five years earlier. The Camp, first founded by Ian’s father, and still home to his mother, Julia, has been the source of a number of valuable finds, but with no recent significant discoveries, funds are beginning to dry up. The situation is already tense as the Lawrence’s attempt to secure a new patron to continue their search for Homo Erectus, so when Essie inexplicably returns from a scouting trip with an orphaned Hadza infant whom she is to take care of for four months, the future of the Camp is threatened.

Scholes explores a number of themes in The Beautiful Mother. One of the most significant examines universal questions about motherhood as Essie cares for the baby girl she names Mara. It’s a joy to be part of her journey as she opens her heart to Mara, and gains new perspective about who she is and what she wants.

Essie’s relationship with Mara also allows the author to delve into the dynamics of marriage and family as the infant’s presence drives a wedge between Essie, Ian, and Julia. The baby stirs up repressed feelings about the loss of Julia’s youngest son who disappeared as a toddler at Magadi, and Ian resents the changes Mara effects in his previously pliant wife.

Also of importance in the novel is the author’s exploration of home and belonging. This is particularly shown through the character of Essie’s assistant, Simon, who is torn between his perception of himself as a ‘modern’ Tanzanian, and his birthright as as a member of the Hadza.

Scholes descriptions of the Tanzanian landscape are breathtakingly vivid from the red rocky desert plains of Magadi to the majesty of Ol Doinyo Lengai, an ever grumbling volcano. I found it easy to visualise the layout of the Camp, it’s work tables cluttered with tools and specimens, and the careful grids of the nearby the dig sites. The people too are easy to imagine from Mara’s bright eyes, to the African Camp workers, and the women of the nearby Maasai village.

A well told, evocative novel The Beautiful Mother is sure to engage both interest and emotion.… (mais)